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Cooking with wines may seem easy, but it requires a fair amount of knowledge and expertise to ensure the drink lends its unique flavour to the dish. “Wine is known to release flavours in food that otherwise could not be experienced. Given how much thought goes into choosing a wine to drink, I promise you equal consideration goes while cooking with wine,” wrote Sonal Holland, a wine connoisseur, while sharing her tips to cook with wine on Instagram.
Adding that “the rationale behind cooking with wine is to intensify and enhance the flavour of food,” the expert added that “it’s no secret that wine makes a great ingredient in lots of different foods.” So let’s check out the 7 tips she recommends to consider when cooking with wine.
Don’t cook with wine you wouldn’t drink
Simple and sensible, this is the golden rule of cooking with wine. Avoid cooking with overly salty ‘cooking wines’. Stick to varieties that you already like to drink with a good meal instead.
Reduce acids
To maintain acidity levels in a recipe, reduce other acidic ingredients when adding wine. “Just remember to reduce the amount of lemon juice or vinegar that you would normally add, or cut them out entirely when you are adding wine to the dish,” she suggested.
Alternative for fats and oils
Wine makes for an excellent replacement for fats and oils in many recipes. It is ideal to replace oil when sauteing veggies like mushrooms and onions or in a spring vegetable stir-fry. “It is also a great ingredient for adding flavour in marinates and helps to tenderise the exterior of the meat,” the post read.
Use a non-reactive pan
If you slow-simmer wine for a long then non-reactive cookware should be used. It should be noted that because of its acidity, making a reduction in seasoned cast iron or carbon steel with wine should be avoided. If used, it may result in the transfer of a metallic taste to the dish.
Add wine slowly
As wine reduces in volume while cooking, both acidity and sweetness are intensified leaving strong flavours that can overpower a dish. “Care needs to be exercised in the quantity used- a small amount will enhance the flavours of a dish,” she wrote in the post.
Dry wine vs sweet wine
A basic understanding of the levels of sweetness in wine will help you to make an appropriate selection. A dry wine has very few natural sugars. In contrast, the sweeter wines contain a large amount of natural sugar. So, choose the type of wine depending on the flavour you want in the dish you are making.
Pair wisely
Making a selection does not have to be complicated. pair wines with recipe ingredients in the same way you would pair them with a dish. “These are just guidelines, of course, and experimenting with different pairings will often bring experience and good results,” Sonal wrote in the post.
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